When the Starrs Align

by Harte, Marie

  “What the hell?”

  Staring down at it, she cocked her head, hearing a strange, haunting sound. Unearthly welcome and a powerful joy sent shockwaves throughout the woods caging the small egg. Trees creaked, wind howled, and the water near them swirled, rising in direct proportion to the rising volume of dragon song.

  Enamored and utterly moved, Eve slowly dropped to her knees and took the egg in her hands, dousing the small fire with a nod. The minute she touched the egg’s smooth, polished surface, her body lit with ecstasy—a feeling not unlike that she received when she’d made a successful sway.

  I’m keeping you.

  She felt it, heard herself think it, realized she meant it…and knew she was utterly screwed. Demons and dragons didn’t mix. And what the hell was she thinking wanting to keep Carmaron’s precious young? Dragons weren’t pets. They were malevolent, vicious killers with an appetite for destruction. Pleasant, to her way of thinking, but they had a thing against siding with Ethereal forces.

  An appetite for destruction…. When the sky suddenly darkened and a shadow covered her, she didn’t flinch, expecting the worst.

  Cradling the egg against her chest, she glanced up. What looked in shadow like a winged angel suddenly showed itself for a furious, fire-breathing dragon. In a human male’s body with large, expansive black wings, Ranton, commander of the dragon legion, made an impressive entrance as he lowered to the ground.

  He wore black jeans and boots and a clingy black T-shirt through which his wings commandeered wind. His dark black hair and blazing red eyes sat in a face that any woman would consider handsome. Roughly hewn cheekbones and a strong nose complemented thickly lashed eyes and a stubborn chin. He could have passed for a giant human, save for the fifteen-foot expanse of wings and the red flames of anger burning in his gaze.

  Seven feet of enraged male glowered down at her, more ferocious than even the demons of war. “I’ve come for what’s mine,” he growled, flame curling in his eyes, in his hands and sputtering from his mouth. His fingers elongated into talons as his flesh hardened into black scales, obscuring his clothing. Impressive, beautiful even, but for the fact he meant to do her some serious harm.

  Don’t do it. The egg’s safe now, give him back. But Eve found it impossible to listen to her inner voice of reason. She sighed as she pooled her power, prepared to defend her tie to the new life against her chest with her every fiber of her being. To the torturous bowels of hell, or, God forbid, the starry heights of heaven. “Of course you have. Well, Ranton? Bring it on. I’m ready.”

  Dragons’ Demon: A Dragon’s Dream

  Rachel’s Totem Excerpt

  A Cougar Falls story

  Rachel finished off her breakfast and slowly sipped her coffee. According to Gerald Winter, her aunt’s attorney, Charlotte had died peacefully in her sleep. She’d left her house and some property to Rachel, and a few other odds and ends that Gerald would read today in the will.

  Rachel, unfortunately or fortunately, depending upon her mood, had to be present to hear the legalities. She winced, recalling her last debacle with lawyers, the wounds still fresh.

  Yet, it wasn’t as if she had any other place to go. Her parents were dead. She had no siblings and few friends outside the ones Jesse had managed to steal after the divorce. Hell. The greater the distance between herself and her pitiful old life, the better. She’d spent the past nine months fighting, and the past three months licking her wounds. Wasn’t it time to start over again? And with a clean slate this time.

  Brooding over the optimistic idiot inside of her brewing with good tidings, Rachel gulped the last of her overly sweet coffee and glared at the packets in the center of the booth. Who ever heard of pink packets of sugar?

  Grabbing her wallet out of her purse, she paid for her meal and left a tip for Sarah, then left the diner and its curious patrons behind. As she walked down the street toward her rental car, however, an altercation nearby forced her to stop.

  Twenty feet down the alley to her right, Rachel saw the rude guy from the diner ducking punches from three overgrown bullies. Why she thought of the fight in those precise terms she didn’t know, but she had a definite sense that Bad Ass was the innocent party. The fact that the huge thugs crowding him looked like walking wolf-men made it easier to portray the rude guy as the good guy.

  Good lord, but how hairy and huge did they grow them up here? Bad Ass was at least six-four, and the men trying to pin him to the wall between them were as big if not bigger.

  All three looked like linebackers for a pro team, and they sported long, thick hair, beards and mustaches like mountain men from hell. One of them turned to study her, and even in the daylight his eyes seemed to gleam with a preternatural shine.

  Shit. That is too weird. And this is way beyond my ability to make right.

  Before she could call for help, Bad Ass slugged two of the men with fists so fast they looked a blur, putting his assailants down for the count. The remaining thug lunged at him, only to find himself suddenly plastered against the brick wall. Somehow, Bad Ass had used the thug’s momentum against him, to his advantage.

  Throughout the fight, Rachel stood still, frozen by the animal-like grunts, brutal hits and sheer wildness frothing between the men. But when Bad Ass and then the other one started growling and…hissing…at each other, she took several steps back, thoroughly freaked out.

  Had she not known better, she’d swear that thug was looking more and more wolf-like. And the cries coming from Bad Ass sounded feline, like a big cat howling a warning as his eyes narrowed, the color of his pupils reflecting an odd shine in the shadows of the alley.

  A warm hand on her shoulder scared a mortifying squeak out of her, and Rachel spun around in a heartbeat. Seeing a badge, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Easy, miss. I’ll take care of this.” The lawman tipped his hat at her and quietly spoke into his walkie-talkie, radioing for help. He walked toward the brawlers with an easy gait.

  Like the men in the alley, the sheriff had a feral quality about him. Something in the slant of his brows, the sharpness of his gaze and the readiness in his face. He sported denims and a work shirt, his hat worn from wear, but no gun belt that she could see.

  Shorter than the men fighting by a few inches but no less muscular, the sheriff stopped a few feet in front of them. He said nothing, merely tapped his foot. When they continued to ignore him, spitting and knocking into one another, he crossed his arms and murmured something under his breath, and the two opponents sprang apart as if dashed with cold water.

  “Burke, take Ms. Penny to see Gerald. He’s waiting on you two. And Hart, you come with me.”

  The hairy brute grumbled but followed the sheriff without question, glaring over his shoulder at Bad Ass—at Burke. Four more men appeared at the mouth of the alley and dragged the two unconscious thugs from the scene. Deputies, maybe, though the four looked more like locals than lawmen. They spent an inordinate amount of time studying her, to her discomfort. And the strange, almost hungry looks on their faces had her taking a step back, only to bump into Burke.

  Burke ignored her, however, and glared at the men moving the bodies. They hurried out of the alley, leaving Rachel and Burke alone. Together.

  Not sure how she felt about being summarily dismissed by the sheriff, Rachel stared at Burke, her expression guarded as she wondered why she’d been left with such a dangerous man.

  Burke scowled at her as he straightened his appearance. For a fight in which he’d been outnumbered three to one, he looked surprisingly none the worse for wear. Running his hands through his hair, he tugged the loose strands out of his eyes and tucked the denim shirt he wore back into his jeans.

  Unable to stop herself, Rachel watched his long fingers inching under the waistband of his pants and couldn’t help wondering if his skin felt warm even through a layer of clothes. A burst of longing, of animal need, rippled through her body and left as suddenly as it had come. She shivered, confused, praying Burke
assumed it was from the cooling temperature.

  Seeing her distress, he shook his head and grumbled under his breath. But to her astonishment, he shrugged out of his shirt, leaving him clad in a thin white tee and denims.

  “Before you shatter all your pretty white teeth from chattering, put this on.” He didn’t give her a chance to refuse and enfolded her in the large garment. Oh crap, it smelled like him. And her libido, which had gone dormant in the diner except for one brief flare just moments ago, rose again with a vicious slap.

  Having helped her into his shirt, Burke began to take his arms from around her when he suddenly froze, then stepped even closer. This near to him, Rachel couldn’t miss the rising bulge pressing against her belly, or fail to note the quickening in his breath as she stared at his broad chest.

  “Shit. I just knew you were going to be trouble,” he rumbled before swooping down on her.

  Rachel’s Totem

  Also by Marie Harte

  PARANORMAL

  COUGAR FALLS

  Rachel’s Totem

  In Plain Sight

  Foxy Lady

  Outfoxed

  A Matter of Pride

  Right Wolf, Right Time

  By the Tail

  Prey & Prejudice

  ETHEREAL FOES

  Dragons’ Demon: A Dragon’s Dream

  Duncan’s Descent: A Demon’s Desire

  Havoc & Hell: A Dragon’s Prize

  Dragon King: Not So Ordinary

  CIRCE’S RECRUITS

  Roane

  Zack & Ace

  Derrick

  Hale

  DAWN ENDEAVOR

  Fallon’s Flame

  Hayashi’s Hero

  Julian’s Jeopardy

  Gunnar’s Game

  Grayson’s Gamble

  CIRCE’S RECRUITS 2.0

  Gideon

  Alex

  Elijah

  Carter

  MARK OF LYCOS

  Enemy Red

  Wolf Wanted

  Jericho Junction

  ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  POWERUP!

  The Lost Locket

  RetroCog

  Whispered Words

  Fortune’s Favor

  Flight of Fancy

  Silver Tongue

  Entranced

  Killer Thoughts

  WESTLAKE ENTERPRISES

  To Hunt a Sainte

  Storming His Heart

  Love in Electric Blue

  CONTEMPORARY

  WICKED WARRENS

  Enjoying the Show

  Closing the Deal

  Raising the Bar

  Making the Grade

  Bending the Rules

  THE MCCAULEY BROTHERS

  The Troublemaker Next Door

  How to Handle a Heartbreaker

  Ruining Mr. Perfect

  What to Do with a Bad Boy

  BODY SHOP BAD BOYS

  Test Drive

  Roadside Assistance

  Zero to Sixty

  Collision Course

  THE DONNIGANS

  A Sure Thing

  Just the Thing

  The Only Thing

  *All I Want for Halloween (branch off)

  THE WORKS

  Bodywork

  Working Out

  Wetwork

  MOVIN’ ON (VETERANS ON THE MOVE)

  The Whole Package

  Smooth Moves

  Handle with Care

  Delivered with a Kiss

  GOOD TO GO

  A Major Attraction

  A Major Seduction

  A Major Distraction

  A Major Connection

  BEST REVENGE

  Served Cold

  Served Hot

  Served Sweet

  SCIFI

  THE INSTINCT

  A Civilized Mating

  A Barbarian Bonding

  A Warrior’s Claiming

  TALSON TEMPTATIONS

  Talon’s Wait

  Talson’s Test

  Talson’s Net

  Talson’s Match

  LIFE IN THE VRAIL

  Lurin’s Surrender

  Thief of Mardu

  Engaging Gren

  Seriana Found

  CREATIONS

  The Perfect Creation

  Creation’s Control

  Creating Chemistry

  Caging the Beast

  AND MORE (believe it or not)!

  About the Author

  Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Harte has over 100 books published with more constantly on the way. She’s a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after. Visit http://marieharte.com